Olden Days Charats Future With Past

Panel Wants Ideas To Keep Event Growing

A grand affair on Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend - complete with guests in Victorian costumes - was high on the list of suggestions for next year's event at the Olden Days wrap-up meeting.

Members of the steering committee and several residents met Monday night at Smithfield Town Hall to talk about the successes and problems with this year's event and to get a jump on plans for the future.

Although bad weather on Saturday kept some people away, many vendors, especially antique dealers, did well financially, said committee member Trey Gwaltney. But Ann Hubbard of The Collage, the town's arts center, said the 15 artists who had come to show off - and hoped to sell - their work were disappointed, even though the crowd making its way to the far end of Main Street was adequate.

"It was the feeling of the artists that most people who come here are not here to buy art," she said.

The pieces that were sold, she said, cost less than $100, and those sales will not encourage quality artists, whose work sells for hundreds of dollars, to come back.

But committee member Jim Abicht did not think the art show - a new addition to Olden Days - should fade away so quickly.

"I hate to give up after just one year," he said.

Janice Scott, who operates The Smithfield Inn, suggested that on-site potters, quilters or a renowned artist would draw a crowd more inclined to know good work - and be willing to pay for it.

All of the committee members agreed that the event needs more volunteers - individuals and groups - to participate and keep it growing.

"We're all working 26 hours a day, and everyone gets maxed out," said Gwaltney. "There's got to be more people out there to help."

"I'd like to see more groups involved - Scouts, the Masons," said Diana Beale, who suggested that the committee send letters to any group the members can think of to get the ball rolling.

Russ Brooks, who lives in the 300 block of Main Street, told the committee he did not believe the event justified closing that end of Main Street, and his wife, Cammie, asked the committee to consider some way to accommodate residents if that part of the road will be closed again in the future.

"Give us a little consideration," she said, "so we won't be trapped in our homes for two or three days."

* Judi Tull can be reached at 357-6392 from southside or 247-4926 from the Peninsula.